Grace and Charm
by Pyrite.Dragon
Summary: Mayl's penpal comes to live with her when she loses her parents. She also has a Navi, a powerful one at that. On top of her brains and skills, she has the looks that captured the hearts of two certain Net Savers. Who gets the girl and who gets jealous?
1. The New NetOp in Town

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Megaman. Only characters created by me.**_

_**Alter Ego: This is her second post even though she wrote it first. Personally, I think that neither of them are too...**_

_**Me: NOBODY CARES ABOUT YOU! On with the story already!**_

_**The New NetOp in Town**_

"EEEEEEEEEEEEE!" squealed someone in the distance. Lan had just stepped out of his house into the fresh air of a perfect Saturday afternoon. He was going to the Net arcade, his favorite place on earth.

"We should check out who screamed," Lan's netnavi, Megaman, said.

"No, we shouldn't," Lan said, sarcastically.

"All right, you don't have to be snappy about it," said Megaman.

"Sorry," Lan said, taking out his PET to look at Megaman. "It sounded like it was coming from Mayl's house." He rushed over to her house wondering what might be wrong. Then he heard squeals and yelping. "Mayl! Are you all right?"

"Of course, I'm all right," She said, her eyes glistening with tears, yet they were paired up with a wide grin. "My old friend, Gracylin, is coming, here! You know, she used to live here before she moved to SeenaCity. She moved away when she was two, hasn't been back here since. We all used to play together, don't you remember?"

"No... I don't. But does..." Lan was going to ask Mayl if her penpal had a Navi, but he was cut off. He hardly remembered growing up with any other girl besides Mayl.

"Oh, well, you're going to re-meet her! She's coming today!" she squealed, and she jumped into a long story about what they all did when they were little, and how she remembers her still because they were penpals.

"... and she's coming today because..." Lan was jolted back to my senses when he heard a sniffle. Mayl had started sobbing silently. "She's coming today b-b-b-because..." She stopped, took out a tissue, blew her nose loudly, and continued, "Because both of her parents died."

Lan took in a sharp of breath. Mayl's Navi, Roll, said, soothingly, "Mayl, don't cry, please."

He didn't know how to react in this situation. Mayl was happy and sad at the same time. Hard to believe, but true! He decided the best thing to do was to pat her lightly on the back. So he did, and her face lit up and she pressed onward. "Her parent's never had an idea of where she would go if something happened. They had always thought they would be there for her. She's been living with her aunt in ElecTown. The feds decided that she could choose where she wanted to live and she chose to live with us! My penpal is coming to live with me. Oh, Lan, I'm so excited..."

"Oh, really, I didn't know," I said, sarcastically. _Why am I so sarcastic today?_ Lan wondered. Luckily for him, Mayl laughed.

"We're getting Grace's room ready. Want to see?" Mayl said, standing up.

"Sure," Lan said, but really wanted to go to the Net Arcade. _Oh, well, _he thought, _I hope I can go later._ He walked into her house and was led down the hallway to a room. It was being painted a light blue, kind of like the color of the sky, and there was a tan carpet being vacuumed and cleaned. That color was too blue for him. "How'd you choose this color?" he asked. _Seriously, _Lan thought, _who would pick a light blue to be that _blue.

"It's Grace's favorite color. She said so in one of her letters." And then she repeated from memory, "_My favorite color is light blue. Not a baby blue- light blue. More of a blue like the sky... in the fall._ Oh, I love how she describes it. It fits perfectly doesn't it."

"Not exactly what I would've said," Lan replied.

"Oh, be quiet," she snapped, but smiled none-the-less. "We're trying to make it mimic her room at home. Well, her old home, anyway. Where were you going?"

"Net Arcade," he said, "Megaman and I feel the need to fight."

"Speak for yourself," Megaman said, chuckling.

"Okay, fine," Lan said. He cleared my throat. Mayl and Roll both giggled. "_I_ want to fight other NetNavis. And crush them," he added. "Are you happy now, Megaman?"

"Yep, very happy." All of them started laughing, but stopped when Mayl's dad took his break.

"Hi, Lan, Megaman," he said.

"Hey," Megaman and Lan said, in unison.

"Mayl," her father, turned to her. "Grace will be here in two hours. We just have to get everything into the room."

"Okay!" she said, enthusiastically. Lan stared at her like she was psycho, _I can't believe it._ Lan thought, Mayl_ is actually excited about moving heavy furniture into an overly-blue room._ Just then, Mayl turned to him and started pleading with her eyes. Lan figured that she wanted him to help her.

"Okay, fine. I'll help, too."

"Yes!" she exclaimed, triumphantly, punching her fist into the air.

"Lan. Hey, Lan!" Megaman was called.

"Oh, sorry, Megaman."

"I thought you wanted to go to the Arcade."

"Oh, yeah. Well, I'm going to go."

"LAN!" Mayl yelled. "Besides Grace has Navi, too. We could go to the Arcade together!"

"Fine." It didn't take _too_ long to get the room ready. Lan, however, was sweating. "That took forever!"

"No, it didn't. It has only been an hour and a half," Mayl replied.

"_You_ weren't helping to carry furniture. All you brought in was a lamp and a picture."

"Well, I can't help it if my dad always asked _you_ to help carry everything," Mayl said, sprawling out lazily on the bed. Just then the doorbell rang. A loud squeal filled the room accompanied by a rushing noise, and Roll saying, "Slow down! She'll still be at the door when you get there!"

Lan walked to the door to see Mayl checking her hair. She breathed deeply and opened the door. A deafening scream, or squeak, or whatever that was, was the thing Lan heard, and possibly the whole neighborhood. Lan thought it kind of like there was a train going by. Mayl and another girl were hugging and jumping around like maniacs. He only got a few words out of their conversation:

"I can't believe...

"I know...

"What are we...

"I will show you. But first I'd like you to meet Lan." That was the first time he had heard my name in the whole conversation, not to mention they had calmed down a bit. "Lan, this is Gracylin."

"You can call me Grace, though." Grace looked up. Almost immediately, Lan was nearly knocked over by sheer force. Grace flung herself on Lan, squealing at the top of her lungs. He had no idea why. Other things that were heard were Megaman screaming, "Lan, are you okay!" and an unfamiliar voice yelling equally as loud, "Why are you so excited!" Then she backed off. Lan started gasping for air. But then he stopped, frozen. Not breathing. _Wow!_ he thought _Grace is very pretty. No, that's putting it mildly. She's beautiful_.Grace had auburn hair half up, half down, in a knot on the back of her head. She was wearing a blue (obviously) spaghetti-strap tank top made out of what seemed like a towel, and a short white skirt. She had several thin silver necklaces, dangling around her neck, with matching bracelets on her wrist. Her earrings were dangling silver with, what looked to be, a sapphire. And her eyes were almond shaped and a deep emerald green. Her smile was worth a million dollars.

"OH, MY GOSH!" she yelled. Mayl's dad even covered his ears. Mayl just stared at her with a _huge_ grin on her face. "Aren't you _the _Lan Hikari? Son of the _famous_ Dr. Hikari?" Lan nodded slowly, not knowing what she was getting at, and said, "My dad isn't..." but was interrupted. Grace squealed again, and ran to Mayl giving her a hug. "You didn't tell me you knew Lan Hikari."

"That was the surprise I told you about," Mayl said, slyly. And without further ado, Grace pulled out a sky blue PET, the _exact_ same color blue that was in her room. She started talking to her Navi.

"Gymna, guess what?"

"What!" said the voice heard earlier. "You were screeching so loud I had to go on silent mode." The Navi laughed.

"Enough with the jokes, since you will be squealing, too," Grace said. "_I met Lan Hikari_." There was silence and then...

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAA!" Just as Grace predicted the Navi screeched, even louder than her NetOp, if that's even possible. "OH MY GOSH! Can I meet Megaman, pleeeeeease, pleeeeeease," the Navi pleaded.

"Okay!" Grace took out a small gray-silver cube and pressed a button. The cube grew to the size of a small box. "Jack in, Gymna. Power up!" A beam of red light shot out of Grace's PET, and went into the cube. "Lan, jack in Megaman. Gymna has been dying to meet him. Mayl, jack in Roll, too." Lan didn't know how she knew about Megaman, but he did what she told him to do. He didn't even have a second thought.

"Jack in, Megaman. Power up!"

"You, too, Roll. Jack in. Power up!"

_**Me: Read and Review!**_

_**AE: Well, if they're down here they obviously read it already.**_

**_Me: _Fine!** **_Picky, Picky! Just click the little 'go' button next to 'submit a review' (looks at Alter Ego) Happy now?_**

_**AE: Nope!**_

_**Me: Why not!**_

_**AE: I want ice cream! Sugar, sugar, sugar, sugar!**_


	2. In the Cube and Meanwhile

_**Me: I'm getting a bad rep for pairing my OCs with characters that are already paired.**_

_**AE: Yeah, but she does give heads-up on pairings...**_

_**Me: This story is LAN AND MAYL! Lan does go for Grace, but... THIS IS A LAN AND MAYL! Second, as far as Navis go, this is a MEGAMAN AND ROLL fic ALL THE WAY! Gymna is NOT getting in the way of that couple. TRUST ME! Pairings work out in the end. This chap sorta shows how much Lan likes Grace... and that Mayl is jealous. PAIRINGS WORK OUT!**_

**_BTW, I got an anonymous review saying they didn't like Gymna's name... about that... Grace was 5 when she made Gymna and was into gymnastics at the time. So that's where Gymna came from._**

_**Inside the cube**_

"Where are we?" Roll asked. They looked around and saw many things: Some gymnastics bars, lots of doors, and what looked like a control panel.

"You're in my training cube," said the voice that came out of Grace's PET. "My name's Gymna. Grace is my NetOp."

"So we heard," replied Roll.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE"

Gymna had thrown herself on Megaman, the same way Grace had done to Lan moments before. "OH, MY GOSH!" Gymna shrieked. "I can't believe I'm actually meeting you, Megaman!" She was hugging him really tight.

"Roll, help! I can't breathe!" Megaman choked out.

"Oh, sorry," said Roll, as she laughed. She found this very funny. She ran over to Gymna and tried to wrench her off.

"I CAN'T BREATHE!" Megaman yelled, as loud a he could. Gymna backed off and jumped up and down happily.

"I always wished I could meet you," Gymna said, as Megaman massaged his ribs.

"Well, now you have," Megaman replied. Gymna and Roll started to laugh.

"I-really,-really-wish-I-could-have-a-Net-Battle-with-one-of-you,-but-Grace-says-I- can't-have-one-yet-because-she-doesn't-want-Roll-to-know-how-strong-I-am-before-I-battle- her." Gymna breathed deeply. She had just said that all in one breath.

"Hey, Gymna, we were going to the Net Arcade. Wanna come?" Roll asked.

"Sure, I'd love to. Let's log out of here, shall we?"

"We shall," Roll said.

The computer voice said, "Megaman, Roll, Gymna, logging out."

_**Meanwhile**_

"Will Roll be all right in there?" Mayl asked.

"Of course," Grace said, reassuringly. "Has anything I ever made been dangerous?"

"Well, let's see..." Grace playfully pushed her aside.

"You invented that?" Lan asked.

"Yes," Grace replied. "I invent a lot of things. And research. Just like my parents..." She stopped, and looked ahead blankly.

"I'll get your things. They're outside still aren't they? While waiting, why don't you all sit down?" Mayl's father said.

"Okay," Lan said, looking at Grace. She was still staring in front of her. Mayl pushed her a little to wake her up.

"Huh? What? Oh, yeah, sure," she mumbled. Mayl, Lan, and Grace sat down in the living room. Grace had picked up the cube and placed it on the coffee table. It was quiet, then Mayl broke the silence.

"Sorry, Grace," Mayl said as she turned to Lan, "Lan, you would've liked what Grace's parents did. You and your father would like it. You see..."

"They worked at a company that was a branch off of Sci-Lab," Grace finished, suddenly looking happier.

"Really," Lan said, quite impressed.

"Yeah, my dad was one of the few over there working on the Dimensional Area Generator and Crossfusion, a subject that your father knows a lot about." She smiled at Lan. Lan seemed shocked, then frozen, then finally smiled back.

"Well, um..." Lan really wanted to ask what was on his mind, but he didn't know how to ask it.

"Yes, Lan?" Grace looked at him, so was Mayl, as her father came in. He quickly whispered, "Your stuff is in your room," and she muttered "Thanks," back. Meanwhile Lan looked at Mayl and tried to ask with his eyes whether he should ask it or not. Grace seemed to sense it. "I know what you're thinking," she said wisely. "Don't worry. I won't be offended." She indeed knew what he was thinking.

"Well, um... well, um... how did... how did...you know" He looked at Grace. Her head was cocked to one side, giving an I-know-what-you're-thinking-so-ask-it-already stare. Lan took a big breath. "How did your parents die?" He avoided looking at her. So did Mayl. They didn't see that she was smiling, but a tear streaked down her face.

"Did it really take that long to ask even though I told you I would be all right?" Lan looked up at her smiling, tear-stained face. "Well, my mother died when I was three, drunk driver. She was in the front seat. Dad died in a accident at work. You see, Dad was working on an improved firewall for computers. In fact, he made one so strong it melted the hard drive and caused an explosion. I... I..." She started crying. Mayl slid over and comforted her as she buried her face in her hands.

Grinning slightly, Lan said "Hey, I thought you said you were going to be okay." Both Mayl and Grace looked up. Mayl shot him a stern look, but Grace giggled a bit. Lan smiled wider. Mayl then shot Grace a disapproving look that she nor Lan saw. Just then...

"Megaman and Roll invited us to the Net Arcade!" exclaimed the familiar voice of Gymna. Everyone took out their PETs.

"Hey, Gymna," Grace said. She turned to Lan. "Where's the Net Arcade?"

Mayl cut in. "It's at a place where people do Net Battles. You know all about those. You were the best..."

"Correction, I _am_ the best."

"Oh, _really_," Lan said. "Then I challenge you to a Net Battle as soon as we get to the Net Arcade."

"Fine, then," Grace said, grinning. "You're on! But I'm going to cream you," she added with a smirk.

"Yeah, right," Lan said, as he stood up and headed toward the door.

"Mayl, are you coming?"

"Sure," she replied, as they all made their way out.

_**Me: Okay, DO NOT FLAME ABOUT LAN'S BEHAVIOR! IF YOU DO...**_

_**AE: It will go in my Hall of Flame.**_

_**Me: What!**_

_**AE: Yup, it's a collection of all the flames and reviews that say people aren't reading anymore.**_

_**Me: And why are you collecting them?**_

_**AE: They are used for blackmail and laughing at you.**_

_**Me: Haha, very funny... Anyway, as stated above, this is a Lan and Mayl, so don't flame. This is a semi-Megaman and Roll, but more of the Lan/Mayl. Please review! **_


	3. At the Arcade

_**A/N: Okaaaaaaaaaaaay! I haven't updated in a while. Yeahhhhhhh, so... names are lame in this chap. Don't sue... I don't own the characters. Blah, blah, blah...**_

_**At the Arcade**_

"Wow!" Grace gasped, as they walked into Dentech City. She looked back and forth at all of the stores, and smelled all of the different smells. "Which one is the Net Arcade?"

Mayl pointed and said, "That one over there."

"Wow!" Grace said again. "It's huge!"

"Not as huge as it is on the inside," Lan pointed out as the sliding glass doors opened to let them in.

"Cool!" Grace exclaimed, turning all around. "The Battle Domes at home aren't this fancy." Then she said, "Lan Hikari, I accepted your challenge, so let's get it started!" At the same time Grace said, "Jack in, Gymna. Power up!" Lan said, "Jack in, Megaman. Power up!" The familiar red beams of light shot out of the PETs and into the Battle Dome.

"Listen, Gymna, just because we're friends doesn't mean I won't give it my all!" Megaman said as they shook hands.

"Okay, but I'll go easy on _you_, though," Gymna replied with a hint of a snicker. "I bet even with you doing your best, and me going easy on you, I'll still win!"

"Fine."

"Begin!" the computer voice said.

"Gymna, Stylus Lavender!" Grace instructed.

"Stylus?" Lan looked at her questioningly.

"It changes the color of her outfit to give her a special power."

"Oh... Hm. Long sword. Battle chip in. Download."

"Here I come," Megaman said as he ran toward Gymna. She dodged it miles before he even came close by jumping into the air and doing two back flips.

"Gotta be quicker than that," she said, landing a beautiful kick into his back.

"Megaman!" Lan yelled.

"I'm all right," choked out Megaman as he stood back up.

"Stylus Yellow!"

"Heh, heh," laughed Gymna. "Time for me to speed up!" Megaman blinked. _She's gone_, he thought. Then...

CRASH! Gymna had run headlong into Megaman with a tremendous headbutt that shot him all the way to the other side of the Dome. She stopped and looked at Megaman triumphantly.

Lan called out, "Megaman!"

"Stylus Red, but just throw him lightly enough so that he is almost deleted."

"All right!" Gymna cheered as her yellow outfit turned red. Then she stretched her arm, literally.

"Whoa!" Lan said, very impressed. "How'd you do that?"

"Well, Gymna's the most advanced Navi in the world. That stretching, however, is her regular power, just like Megaman has his Megabuster."

In the Dome, Gymna reached for Megaman and picked him up ("Whoa, Gymna's strong!" "Duh!"). He let out a soft moan. Then, Gymna muttered a "Sorry," and threw him all the way to the other side of the Dome.

"Megaman, I'm logging you out," Lan said.

"Megaman, logging out," the computer voice said. "Winner: Gymna!"

"Yes!" exclaimed Grace and Gymna, in unison. Grace looked at Lan. "Good match," she said.

"You're really strong!" Lan replied. "Your Navi is, too." Grace blushed.

"You don't think I was too competitive?"

"No, not at all!" Grace looked at him in denial. "Okay, maybe a little."

"Better than I expected," she said. Then she ran up to Lan and gave him a hug. It was Lan's turn to blush as he hugged her back. "That's for giving it your all even when I didn't."

She let go and blushed harder. A crowd had assembled around them to watch the match and were still looking at them. Mayl looked like she had seen a ghost.

"What do you mean you didn't give that match your all!" Lan said, horrified. That had been the hardest Net Battle of his life.

"I mean I didn't do my best," Grace said with a smirk. Then she and Mayl laughed at the scared look on Lan's face.

"Hey, I want to face her!" yelled someone from the crowd.

"Fine, I accept your challenge," Grace said, walking toward the voice. A blonde-headed boy stepped out with a horrible smirk plastered on his face. They walked over to the Battle Dome.

"My name is Max," the boy said

"Grace," she replied. "Jack in, Gymna. Power up! By the way, Lan," she said spotting him, in the crowd, still red in the face. She tossed him a chip. "It's a potion chip for Megaman."

"Jack in, Metalman. Power up!"

"Question: Do you want me to go easy or hard on you?" Gymna asked.

"Go easy, like you did with that kid." He nodded toward Lan. "That way, when I beat you, I can show him up." Lan's face passed the color red and turned a deep shade of maroon, mostly because of anger, not embarrassment.

"Well, that dream will be crushed soon," Grace said, confidently.

"By the way, since you are oh, so very confident, let's raise the stakes. If I win, you have to go out with me. Sweetie." Max added, as looked at her, making kissing noises. All of the guys in the audience looked at him with a mixture of jealousy and disgust. They had all been goggling at Grace and admiring her beauty. They all held their breath as they waited for her reply.

At first, she rolled her eyes at Max's childish antics. Then she smiled and said, "Fine." The guys in the audience let out their breath and looked at Max with a cold, hard stare that clearly showed that they were mad. The girls looked at Grace with envy and anger. Both Lan and Mayl looked surprised. "And if I win," Grace continued, with plenty of attitude, "you have to tell everyone what great Net Battlers my Navi and I are. Hey, if anyone wants to challenge me with those stakes after this match, then I will definitely use them." Many of the boys in the audience took out their PETs to ask their Navi if they were up to the challenge.

"Begin!" the computer voice declared.

Grace started off right away. "Gymna, Stylus Scarlet!" With that command, Gymna's outfit turned scarlet. She looked at Metalman, a smirk on her face.

"Time for things to heat up," she said, her hands glowing red.

Metalman ignored her. "I don't need some female Navi to beat me, so stop standing around and face me like a real Navi. Oh, never mind... Metal Claw!" Metalman's silver hand grew into a large, deadly claw as he charged at her.

"How long will it take to get to the required temperature? What is the required temperature anyway?" Grace asked.

"Two hundred degrees," Gymna answered, dodging an attack from Metalman effortlessly. She stopped talking to spectacularly dodge another assault. "It will take about three and a half minutes," she continued.

"That's enough, Metalman," Max said, after watching his Navi try, in vain, to attack Gymna. "Volcano Cannon. Battle chip in. Download."

"Yes!" Grace and Gymna exclaimed. Max looked surprised and confused, and Grace looked at him with interest before saying, "There's no reason to be nervous." _Oh, but there is. There sure is,_ she thought_. You're actually _helping_ me to defeat you._ She smiled at him innocently.

"Two hundred degrees!" Gymna yelled as she side-stepped one, two, three lava bursts from Metalman's cannon.

"All right!" Grace yelled. Gymna and Grace yelled together, "Heat Strike!" and out of Gymna's hands came hot fire. She used them to weld Metalman's feet to the floor and his hands together.

"HA, HA!" Gymna yelled, triumphantly as Metalman's NetOp asked if he was okay.

"Navi Graveyard. Field chip in. Download," Grace said, as a small box of data appeared in the Dome.

"Ice Freeze!" Gymna and her NetOp said, in unison. Gymna's hands glowed blue as she blew ice all around. She froze Metalman's feet and the ground around it. His feet started to crack.

"What the heck is going on!" he yelled as his feet started to crumble.

"You are almost deleted," Gymna said as she shot a blue stream of ice out of one hand and a red stream of fire out of the other. The fire hit Metalman first heating up his body, preparing it for the ice shock he would soon get. Next, the ice hit, making him crack.

"Metalman, deleted," said the computer voice, as Metalman's data flew into the data cube made by the Navi Graveyard chip. "Winner: Gymna!"

"You-you deleted my Navi!" Max exclaimed, looking as if her was about to charge at her.

"Yes, just temporarily, though," Grace replied with a heart-warming smile. Max looked relieved. Grace pulled out a small cube similar to the one she had shown Lan and Mayl at the house. This one was white instead of silver. She pressed a button and it grew to a closed laptop computer. She took the Field chip out of her light blue PET and put it into a slot. With one hand holding up the computer, Grace's other hand typed, scrolled, and clicked. Finally she said, "Hi, Metalman. I'll just put you back into your PET. Max, come here." Max walked over. "Okay, take your PET and put it here." She grabbed his hand (causing him to blush, and the boys in the audience to look jealous) which held the PET and placed it near the laptop. Grace typed more and the said, "Good! All set!" Max looked at his PET. Sure enough, Metalman was staring back at him from it.

"Thank you," he said.

"Any time. It is my honor to defeat you," she replied, as he walked into the crowd. "Hey, don't forget to tell everyone I'm the best Net Battler ever!" she said as he just about disappeared into the crowd. "_And _I was going easy on you." She laughed. "Does anyone else want to challenge me? I'm going hard on everyone else."

"Hey, I'm up to the challenge!" yelled someone.

"Me, first," a girl said.

"You wouldn't last two whole minutes with her. I want to face her," declared another.

"Hey, don't argue. I'll take on all three of you at the same time," Grace said, coolly and calmly.

"What?" The crowd yelled in surprise. They obviously weren't expecting that. Then the room was filled with the buzz of muttering.

The first voice, a teenage boy, stepped out. "Fine, but don't blame us when your Navi is deleted. By the way," he added, "I would like the same stakes as the other kid." He grinned widely.

_Ugh! _Grace thought, rolling her eyes,_ All of the guys here just want to impress me and go out with me. They'll suffer the consequences when_ their_ Navis are deleted._ The other two challengers stepped out of the crowd. One was a young girl, no more that seven or eight, and the other was a teenage girl, who was dragging her boyfriend to the front of the crowd, whispering in his ear. When she let him go, he only goggled more at Grace.

"Jack in, Daisy. Power up!"

"Jack in, Sugar Bear. Power up!"

"Jack in, Windman. Power up!"

"Jack in, Gymna. Power up!" All of the Navis shot out of their PETs and materialized in the Dome. "Gymna, remember that we are going hard on everyone from now on."

"Let's do it," Gymna replied, confidently, looking ready to fight.

"Begin!" exclaimed the computer voice. Grace was the first to move.

"Navi Graveyard. Field Chip in. Download! Stylus Red!" Immediately Gymna's outfit turned red, and the data cube appeared. Gymna reached out her stretched-out arms and wrapped them around the Navis.

"Hey, watch it!" Windman exclaimed, as Daisy elbowed him in the stomach as she tried to get out.

"Let me out of here!" Sugar Bear screamed.

"I need a battle chip!" yelled Daisy.

"Right," said the teenage girl, "Bubbler. Battle chip in. Down..." Just then she was cut-off by the computer voice saying, "Bubbleman, Sugar Bear, Daisy, deleted. Winner: Gymna!" The whole time Gymna had been squeezing them until she gave a small pulse and they were deleted.

"Thirty seconds, not too shabby," Grace said as she took out her laptop. "I should know your names as well," she added looking at the three dumbstruck NetOps. Well, two. The third one was the little girl. She had fallen to the floor in a heap, crying her eyes out.

"Well, I'm Sara," said the teen, looking at Grace working on her computer in disgust. She glanced back at her boyfriend, who was goggling at Grace once again.

"M-my name is G-G-Ginny," the young girl sputtered out.

"I'm James," the boy said.

"Okay," Grace said, distractedly, as she typed. She looked at Ginny and said, "Ginny, your Navi's not deleted. She's in my computer."

"R-r-r-really?"

"Really," Grace replied with a smile. "All right, put your PETs here." Ginny stood up and walked over with James and Sara. They held their PETs next to the computer. Grace typed some more and the Navis were reunited with their NetOps. They all thanked her, and made their way to the door. Sara ran back to the crowd to get her boyfriend to come with her. He followed her reluctantly and shot several looks at Grace hoping to catch her eye. She ignored him though as he walked out the door.

"Which one of you will be the one who will finally realize I can't be defeated?"

"Not me!"

"Me neither!"

"Is that a challenge!"

"Well, maybe it is," Grace shot back, hotly. "Well, anyone who wants to challenge me should get in line. The whole crowd, not _part_ of the crowd, the _whole_ crowd got in line. Grace blinked and said, "Wow! Lots of you want to be pulverized. In that case, I'll take you on _five_ at a time. Once one group of five is deleted, the other group should jack in immediately. At least I can leave Gymna in there. She's there now, so let's start! Navi Graveyard. Field chip in. Download!" The first group went in, with Gymna in Stylus Red. She used the same strategy that she had used with the previous three. One group after another was almost instantly deleted when the computer said, "Start!" Gymna was hardly breaking a sweat when they reached the final group. This group had only three people in it. Lan and Mayl were two of them.

"Lan, your sorry behind wants to be kicked again?"

"Yeah, but now you should be worried about your butt being kicked."

Grace just yawned and turned to Mayl. "Are _you_ ready?"

"Of course!"

"Well, then, let's start!"

"Wait!" said the other boy, standing next to Lan. "You didn't ask me if _I_ was ready!"

"Whatever," Grace replied, rolling her eyes. Everyone jacked in.

"Begin!" Gymna used the same strategy as before, and won instantly.

"Three seconds, perfect!" Grace exclaimed as she logged Gymna out. "All right, everyone, time to get your Navis back." This time when she took out her laptop she also took out a red cube with a reflector on it. She attached it to the back of her computer and typed. Finally she said, "They're back!"

Everyone looked back at their PETs to see their Navis. People started coming up to Grace to say "Congrats!" or "You're awesome!" Some even asked for an autograph. "Why?" she had asked.

"Because you are going to be _famous_," was their reply. Lan was standing around with Mayl, waiting around for Grace, when he overheard a group of boys talking.

"She's _amazing, _creaming everyone in here in about five minutes."

"Never mind that, she's pretty!"

"Pretty? She's _beautiful_!

"Beautiful? Are you insane! She's hot!" Everyone in the group nodded in agreement. Lan looked at them with disgust. _No way would Grace would go out with these freaks_," he thought, _Well, she is hot... Wait, what am I thinking? Would Grace ever like me? _Lan's thoughts started drifting. _Maybe she _would_ actually like me. I mean, the first time she saw me, she threw herself on me, knocking all of the wind out of me._ Lan smiled in spite of himself at the thoughts going through his head. He didn't notice that Mayl was staring at him.

"Are you okay? You aren't like yourself. You would always be bounding up and down at the Net Arcade. Then again you never lost at the Net Arcade."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Lan said, ignoring her last statement. Grace started pushing her way through the crowd to get over to them.

"_Oh, my gosh!_" she said. "People are actually coming up to me to ask for my autograph! Gymna's, too. Some of the guys even came up to ask _me_ out. It was hilarious!" She and Gymna started laughing.

"What did you say to the guys who asked you out?" Lan asked, curious and nervous.

"At first, I just said, 'Sorry, I'm going to be busy for a long time, 'cause I just moved here.' Then, after the third guy, I started laughing and turning them down by saying I already had a boyfriend," she said with a smirk.

"Who is it?" Lan asked.

"_Hello!_ Weren't you listening? I just moved here how could I have one." She smiled at Lan.

"Why are you so curious?" Gymna asked Lan, suspiciously. Roll started giggling.

"No reason," Lan said, embarrassed and beet-red. Mayl shot disapproving look at Lan and at her PET, and then sighed.

"Oh, you are _sooo_ lucky. You have boys all over you and it's only your first day." She sighed again looking at the guys staring at Grace. There was an awkward silence and then...

"Megaman, what time is it?" Lan took out his PET.

"Four o'clock. Why?"

"We have time, don't we?" Lan asked.

"Well, we meet your dad in one hour, so..." Megaman stopped for Lan to finish the sentence.

Lan turned to Grace. "Would you like to go see Sci-Lab?" Grace's eyes got as large as tennis balls.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! YES! _YES_!" Grace jumped up and down. "Why aren't we moving! Let's go!" She grabbed Mayl's and (to the guys' displeasure) Lan's hand and pulled them out the door. "Which way! Let's go!"

"This way." Lan led them through the streets to the large building. "This is it!"

"_WOW!_" Grace exclaimed. Her eyes grew to the size of softballs.

"My dad is working in there on one of two projects: the Dark Chips or the _dimensional area generator_.

"_No way_!" she squealed, her eyes getting as big as cereal bowls.

"_And _I was going to come here later anyway, but sooner is better than later." Mayl wandered off to look at the flowers on the side of the path.

"Well, can... can I come in, too?" Grace asked, timidly.

"You and Mayl," Lan replied with a grin. There was an earsplitting screech and Lan felt Grace throw herself on him again. This time he was really happy when she did. His insides jumped for joy when she also gave him a quick kiss on the cheek (which Mayl didn't see) before running off toward the entrance.

"Is she always like this?" Lan asked as he walked slowly with Mayl.

"By the way she writes her letters, shyeah!" Mayl answered. "She writes in a way that makes you feel that she's hyper and excited."

_**A/N: Right now I am very bored with this story and I can't keep this up... I kind of need the nice reviews... BTW, I do allow anonymous reviews so please REVIEW! If you don't like the story... I may delete it anyway... so LATER!**_


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